ITC’s Q1 Net Rises 4%

ITC, India’s biggest cigarette maker, reported a 4% increase in its net profit in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, but revenues were weighed down by cigarette and agribusiness.

The conglomerate’s net profit for the quarter that ended on June 30, 2015, came in at Rs 2,265 crore (US$355 million), against Rs 2,186 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal, but its revenues declined 7.4% annually to Rs 8,505 crore because of lower cigarette sales and lower revenue from its agribusiness.

According to Bloomberg consensus broker’s estimate, ITC was expected to report a net profit of Rs 2,322 crore on net revenues of Rs 9,349 crore.

Revenues from ITC’s cigarette business, which contributes nearly half of the total revenue, fell 1.2% year-on-year to Rs 4,150 crore in the June quarter.